US, Saudi sign host of agreements
Riyadh: US President Donald Trump signed a host of economic and bilateral cooperation agreements in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as he kicked off a four-day Middle East trip with a focus on dealmaking with a key Mideast ally while shared concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme and the war in Gaza dragged on in the background.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital.
The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun belts.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said later during a brief appearance with the crown prince at the start of a bilateral meeting.
They later signed more than a dozen agreements to increase cooperation between their governments’ militaries, justice departments and cultural institutions. Additional economic agreements were expected to be inked later Tuesday at a US-Saudi investment conference convened for the occasion.
Prince Mohammed has already committed to some $600 billion in new Saudi investment in the US, but Trump teased $1 trillion would be even better.
Fighter jet escort
The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital — an exceptionally rare sight.
Trump and Prince Mohammed also took part in a formal greeting and lunch at the Royal Court at Al Yamamah Palace, gathering with guests and aides in an ornate room with blue and gold accents and massive crystal chandeliers.
As he greeted business titans with Trump by his side, Prince Mohammed was animated and smiling.
It was a stark contrast to his awkward fist bump with then-President Joe Biden, who looked to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with the prince during a 2022 visit to the kingdom. Biden had decided to pay a visit to Saudi Arabia as he looked to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe. At the time, Prince Mohammed’s reputation had been badly damaged by a US intelligence determination that found he had ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But that dark moment appeared to be distant memory for the prince as he rubbed elbows with high-profile business executives — including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — in front of the cameras and with Trump by his side.
